MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) today reported third quarter results,
highlighted by continued strong and well-diversified revenue growth and
net earnings of $1.50 per share.

Stephen J. Hemsley, president and chief executive officer of
UnitedHealth Group, said, “Our results were again well balanced across
our business groups. We continue to focus on day-to-day execution on
behalf of all those we serve throughout health care, while innovating
and strengthening our products and services, and broadening our sources
of growth, for the long term.”

The Company increased its outlook for 2012 net earnings to a range of
$5.20 to $5.25 per share and cash flows from operations to approximately
$7 billion, based on the nine-month results and expectations for fourth
quarter performance.

The consolidated medical care ratio of 79.0 percent in the quarter
decreased 170 basis points year-over-year, reflecting well-managed
medical cost trends and higher reserve development. Favorable reserve
development of $390 million in third quarter 2012 increased from $200
million in third quarter 2011, and included $170 million related to
prior year medical costs.

The third quarter operating cost ratio of 15.7 percent increased 30
basis points year-over-year, driven by faster relative growth from
Optum services and UnitedHealthcare fee-based benefits, as well as
continued investments as the Company prepares to transition the
balance of its commercial pharmacy benefit management programs to
OptumRx.

The third quarter income tax rate of 36.5 percent was 200 basis points
higher than third quarter 2011 due to the favorable resolution of an
outstanding tax matter in third quarter 2011.

Third quarter days sales outstanding in accounts receivable of 8 days
were stable year-over-year. Third quarter 2012 days claims payable
increased two days year-over-year to 49 days at September 30, 2012.

UnitedHealth Group increased cash disbursements for dividend payments
by 26 percent year-over-year in the third quarter. The Company has
repurchased 48 million shares for $2.6 billion through the first nine
months of 2012 and ended the period with $1.6 billion in cash
available for general use. The ratio of debt to total capital was 30
percent at September 30, 2012.

Subsequent to quarter end, the Company announced an agreement to
acquire approximately 90 percent of the equity of Amil Participacoes
S.A. (Amil), for an effective purchase price of $4.3 billion, net of
an estimated $600 million tax benefit. Amil is the largest Brazilian
health care company, delivering benefits to more than 5 million
people. The purchase will be completed in two steps. Upon Brazilian
regulatory approval, expected in the fourth quarter of 2012, the
Company will purchase approximately 60 percent of the outstanding
shares from controlling shareholders and management. The remaining 30
percent will be completed during the first half of 2013 through a
tender offer for Amil’s publicly traded shares.

UnitedHealthcare provides network-based health care benefits for a full
spectrum of customers in the health benefits market. UnitedHealthcare
serves employers ranging from sole proprietorships to large, multi-site
and national employers, as well as students and individuals; delivers
health and well-being benefits to Medicare beneficiaries and retirees;
manages health care benefit programs on behalf of state Medicaid and
community programs and their participants and is preparing to serve the
nation’s active and retired military through a recently awarded TRICARE
contract.

Quarterly Financial Performance

Three Months Ended

September 30,

September 30,

June 30,

2012

2011

2012

Revenues

$25.5 billion

$23.6 billion

$25.5 billion

Earnings From Operations

$2.2 billion

$1.8 billion

$1.9 billion

Operating Margin

8.6%

7.4%

7.5%

UnitedHealthcare’s third quarter 2012 revenues of $25.5 billion grew
$1.9 billion or 8 percent year-over-year. Revenue growth was driven by
an increase of 2.15 million consumers served in the past 12 months and
2 million year-to-date, including 670,000 new consumers in the third
quarter of 2012.

Earnings from operations for UnitedHealthcare for the third quarter of
2012 grew $452 million or 26 percent year-over-year to $2.2 billion.
The third quarter 2012 operating margin of 8.6 percent improved 120
basis points year-over-year and 110 basis points sequentially,
primarily due to improvements in medical margins. The Company believes
its alignment of progressive benefit designs, consumer engagement,
clinical management and network performance is favorably controlling
medical cost trends, enhancing affordability and quality for its
customers and members, and helping drive strong market response and
growth.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual grew third quarter revenues by
2 percent or $270 million year-over-year to $11.6 billion. Over the
past year, fee-based offerings grew to serve 1.3 million more
consumers while risk-based commercial products decreased by 205,000
people. At September 30, 2012, the business served nearly 27 million
Americans.

UnitedHealthcare’s consumer-directed health care products grew to
serve 4.85 million people at September 30, 2012, a 24 percent
year-over-year increase. The fully-insured versions of these offerings
have been the Company’s strongest source of risk-based commercial
growth.

In Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare grew to serve 400,000 more
people in the past year, an 18 percent advance, due to the
combination of strong organic growth and focused acquisitions.

Steady growth in active Medicare Supplement products continued,
with the number of people served growing by 240,000 or 8 percent
in the past year, including 60,000 people in third quarter 2012.

At September 30, 2012, 4.2 million seniors and other beneficiaries
participated in the Company’s stand-alone Part D prescription drug
plans.

For 2013, a new national drug benefit design from UnitedHealthcare was
approved by CMS as a qualified Part D low income subsidy prescription
drug plan in 30 out of the 34 U.S. regions.

UnitedHealthcare has begun marketing its new 2013 Medicare Advantage
products in more than 1,600 U.S. counties and estimates 36 million
Medicare-eligible people will have access to its individual Medicare
Advantage products next year.

UnitedHealthcare Community & State

Third quarter Community & State revenues of $3.9 billion grew $420
million or 12 percent year-over-year. Over the past 12 months, the
Company grew to serve 385,000 more Medicaid beneficiaries, including
70,000 people in the third quarter.

During the third quarter, Community & State was awarded business with
Ohio’s new integrated Medicare – Medicaid Eligibles program beginning
April 2013, the first such program in the country.

Total Optum revenues for the third quarter of 2012 of $7.2 billion
were stable year-over-year, as expected. Significant growth in key
technology and service categories over the past year was offset by a
reduction in pharmacy service revenues related to reduced levels of
UnitedHealthcare Part D prescription drug membership and related
prescription volumes.

Optum’s third quarter earnings from operations of $408 million grew
$88 million or 28 percent both year-over-year and sequentially, and
the operating margin of 5.6 percent improved 120 basis points from the
third quarter of 2011. The strong earnings results were driven by
revenue performance and margin expansion from quarterly improvement in
business simplification, integration and efficiency.

OptumHealth third quarter 2012 earnings from operations of $168
million grew $53 million or 46 percent year-over-year and $45 million
or 37 percent sequentially, while third quarter operating margins
increased 150 basis points year-over-year to 8.2 percent. Gains in
operating efficiency and cost management and increased earnings from
integrated care operations were principal contributors to the earnings
results and strong margin expansion.

OptumHealth Financial Services assets under management grew 28 percent
year-over-year to $1.7 billion. OptumHealth Financial Services now
connects with nearly 800,000 care providers and locations and grew the
transmission of medical payments over its connectivity network by 17
percent year-over-year to a run rate of $64 billion per year.
Increases in electronic transmissions improve health system accuracy,
efficiency and productivity.

OptumInsight

OptumInsight third quarter revenues of $718 million grew $93 million
or 15 percent year-over-year, led by growth in compliance services for
both care providers and payers. The OptumInsight revenue backlog grew
$715 million or 19 percent year-over-year to $4.5 billion at September
30, 2012.

OptumRx third quarter revenues of $4.5 billion decreased 9 percent
year-over-year due to the reduction in UnitedHealthcare Part D plan
participants. Revenues decreased $151 million or 3 percent from second
quarter 2012 due to consumers’ rapid migration from brand name
prescription drugs to cost-effective new generic offerings.

OptumRx earnings from operations of $114 million were stable
year-over-year and grew $12 million sequentially as operating margin
improved to 2.6 percent from 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2011
and 2.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012. Despite on-going
investments to support the transition of UnitedHealthcare commercial
pharmacy benefits, earnings from operations and operating margin
strengthened, in part due to rising generic use, with more than 80
percent of third quarter prescriptions filled with a generic offering.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a diversified health and well-being
company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making
health care work better. With headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn.,
UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services
through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health
care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which provides
information and technology-enabled health services. Through its
businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves more than 75 million people
worldwide. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com.

Earnings Conference Call

As previously announced, UnitedHealth Group will discuss the Company’s
results, strategy and future outlook on a conference call with investors
at 8:45 a.m. Eastern time today. UnitedHealth Group will host a live
webcast of this conference call from the Investors page of the Company’s
Web site (www.unitedhealthgroup.com).
The webcast replay of the call will be available on the same site
through October 30, 2012, following the live call. The conference call
replay can also be accessed by dialing 1-800-695-1624. This earnings
release and the Form 8-K dated October 16, 2012 may also be accessed
from the Investors page of the Company’s Web site.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain statements, estimates, projections,
guidance or outlook that constitute “forward-looking” statements as
defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally the words
“believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,”
“project,” “should” and similar expressions identify forward-looking
statements, which generally are not historical in nature. These
statements may contain information about financial prospects, economic
conditions and trends and involve risks and uncertainties. We caution
that actual results could differ materially from those that management
expects, depending on the outcome of certain factors.

Some factors that could cause results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements include: our ability to effectively estimate,
price for and manage our medical costs, including the impact of any new
coverage requirements; the potential impact that new laws or
regulations, or changes in existing laws or regulations, or their
enforcement or application could have on our results of operations,
financial position and cash flows, including as a result of increases in
medical, administrative, technology or other costs or decreases in
enrollment resulting from U.S., Brazilian and other jurisdictions’
regulations affecting the health care industry; the impact of any
potential assessments for insolvent payers under state guaranty fund
laws, including any that could arise out of the potential liquidation of
Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Company; the ultimate impact of
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which could materially
and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and
cash flows through reduced revenues, increased costs, new taxes and
expanded liability, or require changes to the ways in which we conduct
business or put us at risk for loss of business; potential reductions in
revenue received from Medicare and Medicaid programs; uncertainties
regarding changes in Medicare, including potential changes in risk
adjustment data validation audit and payment adjustment methodology;
failure to comply with patient privacy and data security regulations;
regulatory and other risks and uncertainties associated with the
pharmacy benefits management industry and our ability to successfully
repatriate our pharmacy benefits management business; competitive
pressures, which could affect our ability to maintain or increase our
market share; the impact of challenges to our public sector contract
awards; our ability to execute contracts on competitive terms with
physicians, hospitals and other service professionals; our ability to
attract, retain and provide support to a network of independent
producers (i.e., brokers and agents) and consultants; events that may
adversely affect our relationship with AARP; increases in costs and
other liabilities associated with increased litigation, government
investigations, audits or reviews; the potential impact of adverse
economic conditions on our revenues (including decreases in enrollment
resulting from increases in the unemployment rate and commercial
attrition) and results of operations; the performance of our investment
portfolio; possible impairment of the value of our goodwill and
intangible assets in connection with dispositions or if estimated future
results do not adequately support goodwill and intangible assets
recorded for our existing businesses or the businesses that we acquire;
increases in health care costs resulting from large-scale medical
emergencies; failure to maintain effective and efficient information
systems or if our technology products otherwise do not operate as
intended; misappropriation of our proprietary technology; our ability to
obtain sufficient funds from our regulated subsidiaries or the debt or
capital markets to fund our obligations, to maintain our debt to total
capital ratio at targeted levels, to maintain our quarterly dividend
payment cycle or to continue repurchasing shares of our common stock;
failure to complete or receive anticipated benefits of acquisitions and
other strategic transactions, including the Amil acquisition; the impact
of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our reported
shareholders’ equity and results of operations; potential downgrades in
our credit ratings; and failure to achieve targeted operating cost
productivity improvements, including savings resulting from technology
enhancement and administrative modernization.

This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. A
further list and description of some of these risks and uncertainties
can be found in UnitedHealth Group's reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the cautionary
statements in our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form
10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Any or all forward-looking
statements we make may turn out to be wrong. You should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date
they are made. We do not undertake to update or revise any
forward-looking statements.

1 Adjusted numbers are non-GAAP financial measures. GAAP cash
flows from operations of ($298) million for the three months ended
September 30, 2012 exclude a $2.7 billion monthly premium payment for
July 2012 received in June 2012 from the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS). GAAP cash flows from operations for the nine
months ended September 2011 of $7.4 billion included a $2.3 billion
monthly premium payment for October 2011 received in September 2011 from
CMS. Cash flows from operations have been adjusted to report all CMS
payments in the quarter to which they relate.

Revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012
were $11,649 and $34,942 for UnitedHealthcare Employer &
Individual; $9,976 and $30,287 for UnitedHealthcare Medicare &
Retirement; and $3,887 and $11,332 for UnitedHealthcare Community
& State, respectively. Revenues for the three and nine months
ended September 30, 2011 were $11,379 and $33,828 for
UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual; $8,797 and $27,224 for
UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement; and $3,467 and $10,118 for
UnitedHealthcare Community & State, respectively.

UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

UNITEDHEALTHCARE CUSTOMER PROFILE

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

September 30,

June 30,

December 31,

September 30,

December 31,

People Served

2012

2012

2011

2011

2010

Commercial risk-based

9,340

9,345

9,550

9,545

9,405

Commercial fee-based

17,585

17,075

16,320

16,255

15,405

Total Commercial

26,925

26,420

25,870

25,800

24,810

Medicare Advantage

2,615

2,580

2,240

2,215

2,070

Medicaid

3,870

3,800

3,525

3,485

3,320

Medicare Supplement (Standardized)

3,135

3,075

2,935

2,895

2,770

Total Public and Senior

9,620

9,455

8,700

8,595

8,160

Total UnitedHealthcare - Medical

36,545

35,875

34,570

34,395

32,970

Supplemental Data

Medicare Part D stand-alone

4,230

4,230

4,855

4,830

4,530

Note:

UnitedHealth Group served 77.6 million individuals across all
businesses at September 30, 2012, 76.6 million at June 30, 2012,
78.1 million at December 31, 2011, 78.1 million at September 30,
2011, and 75.4 million at December 31, 2010.